Wednesday, April 2, 2008

I've enjoyed Vegas buffets my entire life. What I love most is that the standards keep getting higher and higher, with each new casino trying to out-do the previous one. When the buffets went upscale, I was willing to pay for it. Maybe I'm a sucker, but for what they're putting out nowadays, the $40 price tag is still quite decent. Plus, buffets indulge my indecisiveness and gluttony.

My current favorite is The Buffet at Wynn. Guess they couldn't come up with anything more creative for a name.

The dishes tend to run a bit on the higher-end side, with offerings such as New Zealand rack of lamb and quail. My first plate started with shrimp cocktail, which was filled with gorgeous, perfectly-poached shrimp and tart cocktail sauce. No smelly and/or scrawny shrimp from this pile. They have an Indian food area, so I picked up some basmati rice with golden raisins and almonds. The aforementioned quail is to the right. It was a bit dry, but I love quail. It has a mild gaminess that makes it a bit more musky than dark meat on a chicken. The middle was a slice of lamb tenderloin, which was quite good. I don't know where they found the corn, but it was very sweet. Can't wait until summer when we have piles of corn at the farmer's market.

To the left of the corn cob is one of the best items at the buffet. It's pastrami swordfish and it was very well-executed. The tougher sportfish was tenderized by the preparation and still retained the deep and pungent flavor typical of swordfish. Above it is grilled sole, which paled in comparison. At the top of the plate was a spicy salmon handroll (fresh, but boring), a small baguette (too tough), seaweed salad (good), and edamame (good palate cleanser).

My second plate was a little more reserved, because I was saving precious stomach space for dessert.

The rack of lamb was perfectly seasoned with a paprika rub. It was literally finger-lickin' good. The meat in the center is beef ribeye, which was a little overcooked. I don't normally eat crab legs, but they were there, so I decided to have a couple. They were ok. More shrimp cocktail, another hand roll, and more swordfish pastrami. The baguette carried over from the previous plate. The cheesy, crusty blob next to the ribeye is eggplant parmesan, which was decent.

The dessert spread at this buffet is amazing. I regret not taking a picture of the serving area.

To the far left is a caramel eclair, with smooth and almost salty caramel in the middle. Excellent! The creme brulee (front) was too runny, but tasted pretty good. The cup at the top contained green tea mousse with a crust of white chocolate. Very, very good. The mousse was light and flavorful. Key lime pie, which was tart and moist, is to the right of the mousse. The ice cream was great, with the coffee (lighter brown) being made in-house. I love coffee ice cream when it packs a hard punch and this did.

What a meal... if a Vegas buffet needs to be visited, it should be the Wynn's buffet.

2
bites:

Ooooh Vegas buffets! My favorite is The Pharoah's Pheast at the Luxor. Not upscale like the Wynn's but belt busting and delicious all the same (and very reasonably priced.) The only thing I don't like about Vegas buffets is when they have a champagne brunch (all day long,) charge me an arm and a leg, and then I don't even want the champagne. It happened to us at the Paris buffet, and I have yet to forgive them.

Pharoah's Pheast is also very good and an especially good deal. I like going there for breakfast. The Spice Market buffet at Planet Hollywood (formerly The Aladdin) was very good throughout the transition. We tried to go that weekend, but it was opening at 11am (very weird) and was kind of pricey for what they called Easter brunch ($26). We weren't sure if the quality held up, so we skipped it. Harrah's Flavors buffet is decent... great desserts, including cotton candy, which is fabulous. The food is fine, but execution is mediocre. A lot of heat-lamp dryness going on.